Engels College 1605 - 1680

This engraving by Filippo Ferrari depicts the English College at Douai, likely created shortly after its founding in 1568. The college was established in the Spanish Netherlands to educate English Catholic priests in exile during the reign of Elizabeth I. The image creates meaning through its clear depiction of the college buildings and grounds, visually representing the institution's physical presence and stability. The Latin inscription below emphasizes the college's mission to restore the Catholic faith in England and its role as a "bulwark of truth against heretics." This reflects the intense religious conflict of the time, as England had broken with the Catholic Church under Henry VIII and embraced Protestantism. The college itself was an institution embedded in the politics of imagery. It played a crucial role in training missionaries to return to England, often facing persecution and martyrdom. To understand this artwork fully, historians consult archives, religious texts, and political documents, revealing the social conditions that shaped its production and reception. The meaning of this image is contingent on this complex social and institutional context.